Overtaken
by TheWolfParadox
Summary: An innocent Crucible match reveals that Oryx might still have more influence over Harley than anyone thought.


"You want to what?"

"I want to play some Crucible," Kai repeated, "You've been acting kind of weird and stressed out lately, so I thought we could decompress."

"I must have missed something," said Harley, "Since when has Crucible been a place to _relieve_ stress?"

"Since always," said Liv, "Duh!"

Harley couldn't agree. While he _had_ enjoyed Crucible the last time he played it, he also remembered it as very stressful. Points weren't something you had to think about when clearing out a Fallen base. And going up against other Guardians had been an entirely different experience. Still, he saw the merit in Crucible acting as training for Guardians. It was excellent for learning tactics and cohesive teamwork. And he'd done rather well the last time he'd entered it. Maybe there was something to the idea after all. At any rate, it would probably be better than dodging his friends until his next patrol assignment, which is what he seemed to spend most of his time doing.

"Alright, I'm in."

Liv cheered. "Hell yeah! We'll show those other Guardians a thing or two!"

"Are any of the others coming?" asked Harley.

"Besides us three, Rogue, Rae, and Kay all said they'd join," said Kai.

"Not Tristan?"

Kai shook her head. "He's studying in his room… I'll slot us in for the next match."

As the Titan typed on her interface, Liv turned to Harley. "So what weapons are you going to use?"

"Hmm, probably the Freelancer and my sniper."

"You any good with it?"

"You've seen me snipe, Liv."

"Yeah but not in the Crucible. It's different in there."

"Well, I used it last time and it worked pretty well."

She shrugged. "You do you… It'll probably be good to have some variety anyway. A lot of the others like to go short or medium range."

"Next match is Zone Control in Bannerfall," said Kai, "We should probably head out now."

Liv clapped Harley on the shoulder. "See ya there!"

Harley watched as his friends transmatted away and then had Prism do the same for him. Once they were on their way to the chosen area, he worried over his gear, checking his weapons.

"_Nervous?"_ asked Prism.

"_I guess I kind of am,"_ he replied, "_It's been a long time." _

_"When was the last time you played?" _

_"I think it was before Oyrx and all the Taken stuff. I meant to go in a couple times since then, but then there was the stuff with you-know-who." _

_"And then you were avoiding everyone." _

_"I wasn't _avoiding… _Ok, maybe I was. But they keep asking about the you-know-who situation and I don't feel like talking about it." _

_"Understandable. Crucible should be good for you, then. You can hang out with them but they'll be too concerned with the match to bring it up. And hopefully, you'll be too focused to worry about it." _

_"Hopefully." _

Guardian and Ghost fell silent, watching the scenery of the City go by as they approached their destination. Soon, Harley found himself being transmatted down into the arena below. Bannerfall marked the place where the Guardians of New Monarchy had defeated the Concordat, a faction that had attempted to wage war against the Vanguard. Later on, Shaxx had turned the site into a map for the Crucible.

Shaxx made the opening announcements and then the match began. A display popped up on Harley's HUD, showing the score, roster, and the waypoints for the three zones.

"Let's head for B," said Kai, "But split up."

"Ace, why don't you get sights on B," said Liv, "I'll watch your flank."

Harley nodded and ran off to find a good sniper lane. He knew that most Guardians figured out where all the good sniping areas were after playing a few matches on a map. There was a good chance that someone on the other team would be expecting them. But he could see nothing on his radar.

"_Those dumbasses all went for B together!"_ exclaimed Rogue over the comms, "_If only I could smash 'em now…"_

The point counters on the scoreboard ticked up as Harley's friends engaged the enemy team.

"_Son of a Dredgen!" _cursed Kaedro, "_I had a perfect line on B and one of them shot me out of it!" _

Harley tuned the chatter out, sighting down his scope. But as he focused on the zone, he caught the flash of an opposing sniper scope that wasn't aimed at him.

"Liv, get down!"

The _crack_ resonated across the map. Harley spun to find Liv sprawled on the ground and watched as her body was transmatted to the designated respawn area. Then his radar flashed red and he looked up to see a Hunter lunging at him. He dodged out of the way, drawing his knife, and plunged it into the Hunter's chest.

All of a sudden, something inside him twisted and he fought the urge to be sick. He found himself kneeling next to the Hunter's body, hands outstretched as the transmat kicked in. He shivered. Cold sweat beaded on the back of his neck. He heard Prism's voice calling to him, but it sounded so distant. The sonorous voice of Oryx filled his head.

"**Your Traveler cannot reach you here, Child of the Sky… Your will is mine."**

A pair of legs entered his field of vision, only to disappear in a violent flash. A different pair took their place, striding up to him with quick, sharp steps. Hands clamped down on his shoulders, yanking him roughly to his feet. The sharp movement only worsened his nausea and he groaned. The person holding him up was yelling something. Suddenly, they reached up and yanked off his helmet.

"Wake UP Hayden!" Kai was shouting, "This is the Crucible, not a summer camp!"

**"Kill them all. Make them pay."**

Harley's hands were trembling as he clamped them over his ears, trying to block Oryx out.

"I can't…"

"Can't what?"

"I can't… I don't want…"

"Don't want _what_?!"

"I don't want to kill them! Don't make me kill them!"

Kai pulled his hands away and said something else, but all he could hear was Oryx commanding him to kill her. He broke free, pressing his hands over his ears once more. Kai snapped her fingers in front of his face, waving irritatedly. He screwed his eyes shut and found the voice quieted. He could hear Kai better now.

"-on Prism?"

His Ghost's reply was worried. "I think it may be a panic attack."

Why wasn't she phased? He had to find her, but he feared that if he saw her, Oryx would tell him to destroy her.

"I have no idea why he's reacting this badly. He was better for a while..."

"Ace?"

A hand settled on his arm. He flinched, but the touch was light, barely putting pressure on him. Kai's voice was much less irritated. Instead, she sounded concerned.

"Look at me."

Harley shook his head, eyes still closed. He heard the faint sound of approaching footsteps. But then Kai said something that made them stop. Everything was still muffled. Hesitantly, he brought his hands away from his ears. The voice was silent.

"Look at me," Kai repeated.

He shook his head again. "Can't."

"Why?"

"If I see you, he'll tell me to kill you."

"Who?"

"Oryx."

He heard her inhale. When she spoke again, her voice was measured.

"Ace, Oryx can't control you. You're not Taken anymore. That was two years ago."

Harley cracked his eyelids open by a sliver. Sunlight poured in, making his eyes water a bit. Kai stood in front of him with Prism floating next to her. Both were watching him with concern. When Oryx's voice didn't emerge to give him commands, he opened his eyes the rest of the way.

"Harley?" asked his Ghost.

"Yeah?"

"Are you still hearing him?"

He shook his head. "Not anymore."

"You haven't had an attack this bad for a while," she said worriedly, "Do you know what might have triggered it?"

He took a slightly shaky breath. "When I...killed that Guardian, it… It was like when I was Taken and Oryx was telling me to kill you guys. Like when I almost killed Kay."

"I didn't know you remembered that." The Titan's voice was carefully calm.

"It's fuzzy… Everything's fuzzy except when it's not. Does that make any sense?" She shook her head. "I don't remember much. But...I remember turning on Kay. But only sometimes. When I'm...reminded."

"I think I'm starting to get it," said Kai, "Are you ok now?"

He nodded. "Better."

"Do you want to finish the match?"

He shook his head feverently. "I don't think I could make myself kill another Guardian… I know they're on the other team, but killing that Hunter made me feel...wrong."

"Ok. I'll get Shaxx to pull you out. He'll understand… Look, Ace. I think you should tell the others about this stuff. You've been...affected by this since you were in the med bay. It's the kind of thing your team should know."

"No! I don't want them to worry about me. I can manage this. They have other things to worry about. Promise me you won't tell them!"

"Alright, alright. Calm down. I'm not gonna say anything without your say-so. But you should think about it. This isn't the kind of thing you should suffer through alone."

"...I'll think about it," he said unwillingly.

Kai nodded. "Good. We'll meet you back in the Tower, yeah?"

He nodded. With one last glance at him, the Titan returned to the match. Harley retrieved his helmet, then allowed Prism to transmat him back to the Star.

"I shouldn't be a Guardian," he said as they flew back, "What kind of Guardian can't even play one Crucible match?"

"Plenty of Guardians don't play Crucible," said Prism comfortingly, "That doesn't make them better or worse than the ones who do. It's not a weakness to not want to kill other Guardians."

"It _is_ a weakness to fall apart on the battlefield. What if next time something like that happens, it's someplace like the Vault of Glass? What if someone dies because I'm incapacitated? ...I never should've been given the Light in the first place."

"You are _more_ than deserving of the Light, Harley. Don't torture yourself by wondering about things like that. If something like this ever happens again, we'll get through it like we always have: _together._"

Harley gave a small smile. "Thanks, Prism."

"Anyone who thinks _my_ Guardian doesn't deserve the Light will get a piece of my mind. And that includes _you_."

* * *

**A/N: This story takes place between Rewrite the Stars and West of Sunfall. It's an idea I had in my mind for a while and finally got around to writing XP**


End file.
